Reinventing the Wheel
by FutureTVwriter
Summary: After an incident during an arrest leaves a detective incapacitated she'll have to learn how to navigate through life and recovery and lean on others. Loss of independence is hard for anyone to swallow. Please Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

**Reinventing the Wheel **

Disclaimer: If they were mine E/O would've happened a long time ago.

**A/N:** After an incident during an arrest leaves a detective incapacitated they'll have to learn how to navigate through life and recovery and lean on others. Loss of independence is hard for anyone to swallow.

Alright this is going to be a longer story than my usual SVU fics, I've got 7 chapters planned out so please stay tuned and remember to review!

* * *

"Got it, thanks," Olivia said into the phone as she hung up and turned to her fellow detectives.

"Apparently," she began, "our guy Frank has been moonlighting as a bouncer at a strip club off the books."

"Well that's a parole violation," Fin responded. "Yep, let's pick him up." Olivia said as she got up and grabbed her gun. "You coming?" she asked as she turned to face Elliot. He looked her up and down, he loved seeing how excited she got at the prospect of an arrest, she was practically beaming.

He checked his watch before responding, "Can't, I have to pick Kathleen up from the train station in 45 minutes. We can go when I get back."

"Nah that's alright, Munch and Fin will come with me right guys?" she said as she turned to the guys.

They were already getting out of their seats, "After you," Munch said as he gestured towards the door.

* * *

They went up the flight of stairs to the apartment building and rang the buzzer several times.

"Who is it?" came a gruff voice out of the intercom.

"Meter reader," Olivia responded slyly.

"Bullshit, I saw you guys pull up." The voice responded.

"Police," Munch began, "either you come out or we're coming up there."

Nothing more came out of the intercom so the detectives braced themselves for the arrival of their suspect. Guns blazing Munch stood to the right of the door, Fin to the left, and Olivia dead center. They heard footsteps coming down the stairs and in a split second the front door of the building flew open as Frank tried to run through the detectives like a football player. The door collided into Olivia and sent her crashing down the stairs. Frank regained his footing and bolted. Munch and Fin, still on the landing, were momentarily stunned before they sprung into action. Fin dashed down the stairs and ran after Frank leaving Munch to check on Olivia at the bottom of the stairs. He quickly holstered his gun and rushed over to her. She lay on the pavement gasping for breath after having the wind knocked out of her. Munch kneeled down next her and placed his hand gingerly on her shoulder not wanting to hurt her.

"Take slow deep breaths," he said calmly trying to reassure her. "There you go, how're you doing?"

She looked up at him from the ground still in shock as to how she had gotten to the bottom of the stairs. She moved to sit up but Munch held her down at her shoulder, "Whoa whoa stay down you may have a back or neck injury. What hurts?"

She took another deep breath before answering, "My back," she responded as a spasm of pain shot through her spine and she winced.

"Just keep taking deep breathes," Munch coached her calmly although he was sweating bullets because he was so worried about her. It wasn't like her to not jump up and fight back, not like her at all. Fin came jogging back to the building empty handed, Frank had gotten away. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that Olivia was still on the cement. He looked to Munch for an explanation.

"Call a bus. Now." Munch said to him firmly.

Fin immediately grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed, "This is detective Tutuola from SVU badge number 6458 I need a bus on a rush at 324 N Dakin St we've got an officer hurt."


	2. Chapter 2

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Glad everyone is liking this so far! I'm getting my wisdom tooth out tomorrow and will be lying around in pain all day so reviews will be much appreciated and might entice me to work on the next chapter =]**

* * *

Elliot rushed into Mercy hospital. He had just dropped Kathleen off at home when he got the call that Olivia had been brought in by the paramedics. She had been pushed down a flight of stairs. Munch's worried tone on the phone did nothing for his already shot nerves at hearing that his partner had been hurt. This had to happen the one time he didn't go with her to make an arrest, he was already mentally kicking himself and he hadn't even seen her yet. He rushed down the corridors until he found Munch and Fin in a waiting room.

"What happened? Where is she?" He asked out of breath.

Munch approached him, "The guy barreled through the door and she fell down the stairs."

"She's the only one that got hurt?" Elliot asked accusingly.

"She was in front of the door, man," Fin responded as he approached him.

"You were supposed to have her back," Elliot said angrily.

"We did Elliot, there was nothing we could do, it all happened so fast." Munch replied.

"She'll be okay, she's a fighter," Fin said trying to be reassuring.

"Where is she?" Elliot asked once again.

"Over here, the doctor is waiting on her xrays." Munch said as he led Elliot to Olivia's room. He walked in and saw his partner lying in the hospital bed obviously in pain. She mustered a faint smile when she saw him and he approached the bed.

"Hey," he began, "you okay?"

She winced as she tried to sit up and Munch stepped forward, "Just stay down," he ordered. She obeyed.

She looked up at Elliot from the bed, "I'm alright. A little sore." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she was hit with another spasm of pain that made her gasp.

"You don't look okay," Elliot responded.

The doctor, Dr. Fisher, entered the room and was surprised to find it filled to capacity. "You're a popular one aren't you?" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"How is she?" Elliot asked nervously.

The doctor shuffled the xrays he was holding, "uh I'd really like to speak with my patient alone gentlemen."

Munch and Fin turned and left but Elliot hung back, "I'm staying," he said firmly.

Dr. Fisher looked to Olivia, "It's alright, he's my partner."

"Alright then let's take a look here." He put the xrays of her spine on the lightboard. "See this vertebrae right here?" he said as he pointed to the xray. Elliot and Olivia nodded. "It shifted when you fell and it's pressing up against one of your spinal nerves. I believe you have cervical radiculopathy."

Elliot and Olivia exchanged puzzled looks, that did not sound like a minor diagnosis.

"Cervical radiculopathy is the damage or disturbance of nerve function that results if one of the nerve roots near the cervical vertebrae is compressed." Dr. Fisher continued, "Damage to nerve roots in the cervical area can cause pain and the loss of sensation in various upper extremities, depending on where the damaged roots are located."

"What do you do to fix that?" Olivia asked.

Dr. Fisher moved towards her, "Let me check something. I'm going to have you sit up very slowly alright?" He gingerly helped Olivia to sit up and had her swing her legs over the side of the bed. She winced with every movement. He ran his hand down her spine and when he reached the problem area she yelped in pain. Elliot instinctively moved towards her to comfort her but pulled himself back, afraid to touch her.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Fisher responded, "You can lie back down." He helped her lay back down on the bed before continuing. "The good news is that it appears that the vertebra has shifted back into place, but you do have some damage to the spinal nerve and some inflammation from the injury."

"What does that mean?" Elliot asked nervously.

"With rest, pain meds, and physical therapy she'll be just fine, but she will have to use a wheelchair for about a month so that the inflammation will go down and her spinal nerve has a chance to heal."

The color in Olivia's face drained and her mouth gaped open, "A wheelchair…for a month?" she whispered.

Elliot put his hand on her shoulder unsure of what to say to make this situation any better. As if on cue a nurse entered the room with a wheelchair. The doctor, nurse and Elliot all had their eyes on Olivia. This was too much for her to handle, just an hour ago she had been revving to arrest a suspect and now she was lying in a hospital bed in pain listening to a doctor tell her that she had to be in a fricken wheelchair for an entire month. Needless to say, she was pissed.

"No, I can walk I don't need a wheelchair." She said adamantly.

Elliot looked to the doctor to convince her because he had yet to find his own words of comfort for this unfamiliar situation, "Olivia, you are physically capable of walking yes but in order for your back to heal and for you to get back to normal activities you have to rest your spine and do as little walking as possible."

"So I _can_ walk?" Olivia asked, clinging on to the one piece of hope in the doctor's grim statement.

"You can get up from your chair to go to bed, do physical therapy, go to the washroom, or get into a car. Otherwise your spine needs to stay immobilized." Dr. Fisher said firmly recognizing that this particular patient was going to be stubborn and strong willed about her predicament.

"It's gonna be alright, Liv." Elliot began, finally breaking his stunned silence. "It's only a month, you'll be back to normal in no time."

"Only a month?" she exclaimed, "only a month! How am I supposed to work?"

"Work should not be your top priority right now Ms. Benson," Dr. Fisher said.

"It's Detective Benson," Olivia spat at him, "and my job is my top priority."

"You can work a desk, Liv." Elliot said.

"Great." Olivia responded glumly.

"Okay well Nurse Hart will help you get dressed and then teach you how to maneuver the chair…I'm very sorry detective, but it really could have been a lot worse." Dr. Fisher said sincerely.

"Thank you, doctor," Elliot said as he shook his hand. Dr. Fisher left the room and Elliot looked down at Olivia.

"I'll go outside while you change and update the guys, then I'll take you home alright?"

"I guess I don't have a choice," she responded sadly.

Elliot exited the exam room and found Munch and Fin still in the waiting room joined now by Cragen.

"How is she?" Cragen asked, his voice laced with concern.

Elliot ran his hand over his head and sighed, "She damaged her spinal nerve and needs to be a wheelchair for a month…she's not taking it well."

The guys were stunned. "Shit," was all Fin could come up with as a response to the saddening news.

"They're teaching her how to use the chair, I'm gonna take her home…of course her first question was about work." Elliot informed them.

"She can work a desk when she's up to it, I know I'm not gonna be able to keep her from working." Cragen answered.

"She shouldn't have been in front of that door…I'm sorry." Munch said to Elliot, knowing how protective he was over her and knowing that, even if he didn't say it, he blamed them for letting her get hurt.

"You couldn't have known the guy was gonna ram through you guys, when has that ever happened?" Cragen responded, trying to assign guilt to the actual guilty party, the suspect.

Olivia unsteadily wheeled herself out of the exam room and broke the guilt filled air surrounding her colleagues as she rolled up to them and nearly ran into them since she hadn't mastered stopping yet.

"Hey how ya feeling?" Cragen asked trying to be cheerful for her sake.

"These pain meds they have me on seem to be doing the trick, I feel fine." She said feigning normalcy."I could probably walk out of here."

Elliot knew she was full of crap but didn't call her on it, "Ready to go home?"

She nodded her head yes. Elliot got behind her to wheel her out as the guys followed close behind, "At least your building has an elevator," Elliot said.

"Yep, at least there's that," she responded sullenly.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 3**

Elliot drove as carefully as possible so as not to jostle Olivia around.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Elliot said as he concentrated on avoiding a pot hole.

"It wouldn't have made a difference El, don't beat yourself up. And it's not Fin or Munch's fault either so be nice to them I think they feel bad enough about all of this…this really sucks." She responded.

"A month will fly by, you'll see. It won't be that bad." He said trying to be reassuring even though he knew that the situation really did suck.

She wanted to bite his head off but didn't have the energy so she just let it go. They arrived in front of her building and parked out front. Elliot retrieved the wheelchair from the backseat and opened up Olivia's door for her.

"Don't go too fast, you might've stiffened up on the ride over." He warned her.

She went to stand up at normal speed until she begrudgingly realized that he was right and eased herself out of the car and into the chair.

When they reached her apartment he went to unlock the door for her but she pulled her own set of keys out of her bag and stopped him, "I can do it myself."

He backed off immediately and positioned the chair so she was able to open up the door. She maneuvered the chair through the doorway knocking into the doorframe as she tried to turn.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled at the chair as she knocked back and forth in the doorway until she finally made it all the way into the apartment. Elliot walked in behind her and closed the door.

"You can just throw my bag on the couch, I know you have to get back home." Olivia said as she rolled towards the kitchen. Elliot placed her bag on the couch and followed her, "I was gonna stay awhile."

"I'm fine, El. Go see Kathleen she just got in from Philadelphia."

"She'll be here all week, just let me stay until you get used to all this."

"I don't want to get used to this." She said flatly. She rolled over to the fridge and went to open in but only managed to smash it into the chair. Elliot pulled the chair backwards to move her away from the door and opened it for her; she grabbed a bottle of water and rolled away. Elliot looked into the fridge and noticed that there wasn't anything in it besides bottles of water and condiments.

"And you're gonna need some food, you can't live on ketchup."

"It's called takeout."

"You need protein and vitamins if you're gonna heal, takeout isn't exactly chock full of nutrients. I'm getting you some groceries."

"I'm gonna get fat from sitting in this chair for a month and not being able to work out."

"No you won't Liv, you'll be doing physical therapy. And even if you do gain a few pounds who cares, you're thin anyway and you'll drop them as soon you're better."

She had to admit it; he pretty much had an answer to everything. "Have it your way," she responded, "I think I'm gonna take a nap these meds are knocking me out."

Elliot moved to push her into her room but she stopped him, "I've got it, you don't have to tuck me in."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'm gonna run to the store, if I get back and you're walking around here you're in big trouble."

He watched as she rolled into her bedroom and stayed until he was sure she made it into bed before he left for the store.

* * *

He returned a half hour later with bags of groceries and was pleased that Olivia was still asleep. He started to unpack the bags when he noticed that Olivia wasn't going to be able to reach her cabinets from her wheelchair. He took out some plates, cups and bowls and put them on the counter so that they were accessible for her and lined up the food he had bought next to them so she had everything she would need. He then proceeded to start dinner, a large portion of spaghetti and meatballs so that she would have leftovers for a few days. Once he was done in the kitchen he walked around the apartment to look for anything else that would be out of reach for her. He moved her toothbrush and face wash out of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and put them on the counter for her along with her pain medication and lined up all of the television remotes that were scattered around the living room neatly on the coffee table.

Elliot took out his cell phone and dialed, "Hey Kathleen, I'm not gonna be able to make it home for dinner tonight I'm sorry... Olivia got hurt and I had to go to the hospital just after I dropped you off…she's okay, she hurt her back pretty bad and has to be in a wheelchair for a month so I'm just helping her out until she get used to it…how about lunch tomorrow? …Meet me at the precinct?... Okay honey I'll see you tomorrow… Love you too."

Olivia woke up from the wonderful smell of the spaghetti and meatballs coming from her kitchen, she didn't remember her apartment ever smelling so good. She got up and walked unsteadily out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to greet Elliot. He was standing at the stove mixing the sauce.

"Smells great."

He turned around and saw her standing in the doorway leaning against the frame.

"What the hell are you doing you're not supposed to be walking around!" He said as he rushed past her to get the wheelchair.

"It was ten steps, El c'mon."  
He returned with the chair and helped her ease down into it. "You can't do that!" he yelled. "What if I wasn't here and you had fallen? You need to rest your back!"

"But I didn't fall," she said like a child who had just been scolded.

"This time. You didn't fall this time."

"Okay okay calm down I'm sorry."

He took a deep breath, aware of how angry he had just gotten at her, "It's alright, why don't you set the table."

She looked into the kitchen and noticed that all the plates and bowls were now on the counter, "what'd you do?" she asked as she wheeled into the kitchen.

"Just made everything easier for you to get to. You can't fight me on everything Liv, you have to accept some help."

She wanted to put up a fight but the food smelled so good and everything _was_ easier for her to reach so she let it go and just set the table.

After their delicious dinner they settled onto the couch and watched TV for a few hours. Olivia started to nod off from the pain medication and Elliot gently nudged her awake. "Liv, you should go to sleep, c'mon." he said as he helped her get back into the chair and wheeled her into her bedroom.

"I'll open your dresser drawers up for you so you get to your clothes easier alright?"

"Alright, thanks El. Goodnight."

He opened up the drawers for her so everything was accessible, he would have put things out on top of the dresser for her but he didn't think she'd be too comfortable with him touching her underwear.

"Night Liv, I'll be on the couch if you need anything."

He walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him to give her some privacy. She stared down at her pajamas lying on the bed in front of her. She eased herself out of the chair and changed into them noting how much it actually hurt to do the simple task of changing her clothes. She settled her sore body into bed and immediately drifted off to sleep courtesy of the pain medication.

* * *

Elliot had made the couch up for himself and was sleeping soundly when he heard a thud come from Olivia's room followed by a whimper that broke his heart. He jumped off the couch and rushed over to her room. He opened the door slowly and once his eyes adjusted to the light he saw that she was lying on the floor.

"Liv! Are you alright?" he frantically asked as he turned on the light and knelt down next to her.

She was lying sideways on the floor and was blinded by the sudden presence of light in the room.

"I just got up to get some more pain medication," she said weakly, clearly in pain.

"You should've called me, I'm gonna help you up, let me know if I'm hurting you." He positioned her on her back and helped her sit up slowly. He hooked his arm under her knees, wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, picked her up and put her back into bed. He positioned her pillows behind her so her back was supported and she was somewhat seated. She winced as she eased into the pillows, tears in her eyes.

"I can't do this," she said as the tears started to flow.

He sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, "Sure you can, you're the strongest person I know. You'll get through this."

"I've been taking care of myself my entire life, I can't not be independent."

"I know it's hard to lose your independence Liv, remember when I smashed my head against that window and lost my sight for a few days? I was terrified, I couldn't imagine not being independent, but I got through that and you'll get through this. You just have to learn to lean on people sometimes."

She took a deep breath as she was hit with another spasm of pain, "I'll try. I know I'm a lousy patient, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you are, but I wouldn't expect anything less."


	4. Chapter 4

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 4**

Olivia awoke to the aroma of coffee floating through her apartment and into her nostrils. She groggily opened her eyes and moved to stretch out her body before getting up but was met with excruciating pain when she did so.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled out in pain, the previous days events had slipped from her mind during sleep and came roaring back to her with a vengeance.

Elliot came running into the room, "What's wrong?"

"I don't ever remember being this stiff or sore in my entire life," she replied.

He began to help her out of bed and into her chair, "Take it slow that's all."

He rolled her into the living room and set her up on the couch. He brought her a mug full of coffee prepared exactly how he knew she liked it, "Here ya go, and here's your pain medication."

She gratefully took the cup and downed the pills, "Thanks."

He plugged a heating pad into the wall and brought it over to her.

"Where'd that thing come from?" she asked.

"I bought it last night at the store," he went on as he leaned her forward and put it against her back.

"What am I? 80?" she replied.

"No. You're injured."

"Well, I have to admit, it does feel really good." She said as she eased into the wonderful head radiating off of the pad and felt her muscle relaxing.

"You're welcome. Okay I have to get to work, do you need anything else before I go?"

Her face dropped at the mention of work, "Can't I come in?"

"Liv, take a few days off. There's no sense in you coming in today."

"What I am supposed to do here all day?"

Elliot grabbed a bag off of the coffee table and pulled out a stack of DVDs, "I rented you _Cagney and Lacy_ and _NYPD Blue_ to keep you busy. You can pretend you're at work."

She was clearly not satisfied with this but realized that she didn't really have a choice. Elliot popped the DVD into the player and handed her the remote, "I expect a full case report when I get back," he teased, "Call me if you need anything."

* * *

Three hours and several episodes of Cagney and Lacy later Olivia was officially bored. She clicked the TV off and looked around her apartment. What was she supposed to do around here all day let alone for a month? Her back felt much better compliments of the heating pad and pain meds so she decided a little visit the precinct was in order, surely it wouldn't be_ that_ hard to get there and she was bored to death, she could use the challenge.

* * *

Elliot had been working on paperwork most of the morning and before he knew it it was already two in the afternoon. He heard the ding of the elevator and looked over to the entrance and was shocked to see Olivia wheeling herself into the squadroom looking like she had been to hell and back. She was stooped over in her chair, clearly in pain, out of breath, pale, and looked considerably rumpled. He jumped up from his desk and stormed over to her, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I work here." Was the only thing she could come up with.

He grabbed her chair and wheeled her over to his desk and sat down in front of her.

"How'd you even get here?"

"I took a cab."

"And how long did it take you to hail a cab?"

"..not that long" she replied sheepishly as she leaned back in the chair slowly trying to hide the fact that she was in pain.

He was at a loss as to what to say to get through to her and just as he was about to try Cragen emerged from his office to see what all the commotion was about. He too was shocked to see Olivia seated in front of him. He looked to Elliot for an explanation but he just shook his head in his 'you know how she can be' manner.

"Benson, my office. Now." Cragen said sternly.

Olivia looked to Elliot who had no pity for her in this situation, "You asked for it."

She slowly wheeled herself into Cragen's office and he shut the door behind her.

"What the hell are you trying to prove detective?" he began.

"Nothing I just wanted to get back to work."

He went around his desk and sat down, "I thought you were going to take at least a day off after yesterday."

"Don't need it," she said as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Don't give me that crap, I can see that you're in pain right now."

"I need the distraction," she responded pleadingly.

He sighed deeply, knowing how much her work means to her but still concerned nonetheless, "I can appreciate that, but you have to realize and accept your temporary…limitation."

"I'm working on that," she conceded.

"Alright. You can work a desk while you recover if, and only if, one of us drives you here in the morning and takes you home at night. None of this traveling across the city by yourself. And if I think you need a day off or two you take it. No fighting."

She considered his offer for a moment, she didn't love it but she realized it was the best she was going to get, "Okay. Can I at least keep my gun?"

"I don't think that will be necessary unless you plan on putting a bullet hole in a DD5."

She hung her head, took her gun out of her bag and placed it on his desk.

"It's gonna be alright, Olivia," he said trying to reassure her, "you'll get through this. Munch and Fin are working on finding the guy who did this to you right now why don't you go help them out."

Her face lightened a bit and the prospect of work, let alone catching the creep that was responsible for her being in her current situation. "Thanks Captain."

She wheeled herself back out into the squadroom and positioned herself at her desk.

"Please tell me you at least brought your pain meds with you," Elliot asked her.

"Yep, they're in my bag. I don't want to take them yet though, they make my head all cloudy."

Elliot wasn't pleased with her response but was at least glad that she had remembered to bring her meds, "Don't be a hero."

Before they could get into yet another spat Kathleen entered the squadroom, "Hi Daddy," she said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey baby, ready for lunch?"

"Yeah," she said as she noticed Olivia in the wheelchair at her desk. "Olivia! Hi!" she gave her a gentle hug, "How are you? My dad told me what happened."

"I'll live," Olivia replied, "How's school? You look great."

"Oh I love it, I love Philadelphia too."  
"That's great, well you two have a nice lunch hopefully I'll see you again before you go back to school."

"Yeah for sure! Cya later!"

Elliot grabbed his coat from his chair and led Kathleen out of the squadroom. He turned back to Olivia once more before leaving and mouthed 'take the drugs' before he got into the elevator. She laughed at his persistence. She turned around to see where Munch and Fin had gotten to so she could help them track down Frank and noticed that they weren't at their desks. Then she heard their voices coming from the loft upstairs, her heart sank. "Stairs, great." She said to herself. She wheeled herself to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at them, she never realized how many of them there were before. She eased herself out of the chair and grabbed onto the railing, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Slowly and carefully she began to climb the stairs one by one feeling her knees shaking underneath her. She managed to get up six stairs before Fin caught a glimpse of her, jumped out of his chair and ran down the stairs.

"What're you doing?" he asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her before she fell over.

"I was coming up to help you guys." She replied as she clutched onto his shirt, she didn't realize how strenuous climbing the stairs would be.

He slowly helped her get back down the stairs and into the wheelchair, "You should've just called us to come down here, woulda been a whole lot easier don't ya think?"

"Well hindsight's always twenty/twenty," she replied trying to be funny to hide the fact that her back was screaming at her in pain.

Munch came down the stairs next and went over to Fin who was rolling Olivia into her desk, "What's going on?"

"She tried to join us upstairs," Fin explained.

"Oh yeah? How'd that work out for you?" Munch asked her.

"Shut up John. Will you hand me my bag please?"

He brought it over to her and she grabbed her prescription bottle out of it and downed a pain pill. "Okay what're we working on?"

"We actually just caught a lead we were gonna go check out."

"Oh," she replied crestfallen.

"But here," Munch began as he placed a stack of files on her desk, "We were combing through Frank's phone records looking for him, take a look and call us if you find anything good alright?

"Phone records. Riveting." She replied flatly.

"Police work," Munch reminded her. "We'll call you after we check this first place out."

They grabbed their coats and rushed out the door. Not two minutes later Cragen came out of his office in a hurry, he was late for a department meeting. Olivia looked around the now silent and empty squadroom. She never noticed what a depressing looking place it was. Scanning through Frank's phone records she came across a number of interest. When she plugged it into the reverse directory on her computer she found out that it belonged to Frank's brother who they didn't know existed and got the address. She figured he might be there since he had no other known family. The address wasn't too far away and she really didn't want to wait for Munch and Fin to get back, _I can just go check the place out, see if it's even worth calling them first, _ she thought to herself. She looked at the pain meds on her desk and down at the wheelchair considering her actions for a moment before her cop instincts overrode her fear of her physical limitations and she was out the door as fast as she could roll.


	5. Chapter 5

**Reinventing the Wheel **

**Chapter 5**

She hailed a cab outside the precinct and had him drop her off a block away from Franks brother's apartment so she wouldn't be spotted. She wheeled herself towards the building and spotted Frank walking several yards in front her. She came to an abrupt stop sending a jolt of pain through her back. She saw a coffee shop across the street from the building and headed over there while keeping an eye on Frank. After she was sure he entered the building and she got herself situated in the coffee shop she took her cell phone out of her bag and dialed,

"Hey Fin it's Olivia I found Frank…I found out he has a brother from his phone records…I'm just gonna sit on the place til you guys get here…I'm fine, I'm across the street…I won't I promise, seeya soon."

Munch and Fin arrived within fifteen minutes and found Olivia in the coffee shop.

"You alright?" Fin asked as they approached her.

"I'm fine, he's in 576 across the street, unit 201." She replied.

"Okay stay here and we'll go get him." Munch said as he and Fin turned and left.

She watched them go across the street before wheeling herself out of the coffee shop and going to wait outside the building. They brought Frank out in handcuffs and were in the middle of reading him his rights when Elliot's car came speeding down the street; he pulled up on the curb and jumped out.

"You called him?" Olivia yelled to Munch and Fin.

All they could do was shrug in response before Elliot started reading Olivia the riot act, "What the hell do you think you're doing? He screamed at her as he towered above her.

"Elliot, I—" she started to explain before he cut her off.

"You don't even have a gun and you're in a WHEELCHAIR how did you expect to defend yourself?"

"I didn't, El, I…" she could come up with an explanation for her actions. Looking towards Elliot car she noticed that Kathleen was in it. "Elliot just take your daughter home." She said trying to get him to leave her alone.

"No. I'm taking you home. Now." He replied sternly as he turned her chair around and wheeled her towards the car.

Munch and Fin watched as Elliot got Olivia into the car and slammed the door shut.

"Someone's in trouble," Munch commented.

"Big time." Fin concurred.

* * *

Elliot was fuming in the car, "I can't believe you left the squad by yourself to go after a perp."

"We caught him didn't we?" she replied, trying to get him to see the good in the situation.

"Yeah, we caught him. And if he had seen you following him and taken off again we might never have caught him. Or what if he had seen you in the chair and gone after you figuring he could take you down, which he could've."

"But he didn't."

"You can't do the same things you used to!" Elliot yelled loudly.

Olivia was visibly upset at her partner's tone of voice and couldn't continue fighting with him.

"Dad!" Kathleen yelled at him, "Back off."

"Kathleen stay out of this," Elliot spat at her. They were approaching Olivia's building.

"No Dad, you need to calm down. Leave her alone," she said trying to defend Olivia.

Elliot pulled up to Olivia's apartment and Kathleen stopped him from getting out, "I'll take her upstairs and hang out for awhile, you need to cool off. I'll be home for dinner."

Elliot looked to Olivia who was clearly shaken by him yelling at her and then to his daughter, "Alright," he consented, "make sure she takes her pain medication."

Kathleen got out of the car and helped Olivia get out and get into her chair. She wheeled her into the building and gave her father a wave before he drove off. Once they got into the apartment Kathleen helped Olivia get settled on the couch and made them some tea.

"Don't worry about Dad," she began as she sat on the couch next to Olivia, "he only yells like that when we've really worried him."

Olivia was taken aback by that statement, she was never scolded by a father before so of course she wouldn't recognize her partner's apparent rage as concern and worry.

"Oh is that what that was? I was never yelled at by my father so I wouldn't know…"

"Yeah, Maureen used to save me from him all the time, he just needs time to cool down." Kathleen explained.

"Well thanks for saving me then," Olivia replied.

"No problem." Kathleen said, "But you might want to consider cutting down on the stake outs while you're in a wheelchair, I'm guessing it makes it more difficult to make a getaway."

Olivia laughed, "Yeah I suppose you're right, but it's a hard habit to break."

* * *

Elliot picked Olivia up the next morning to take her to her first physical therapy session. She met him downstairs wanting to show him that she was capable of taking care of herself, although she did let him help her into the car. The air in the car was filled with tension so Olivia decided to speak first, "Kathleen has turned into quite the mature young woman…" she began knowing that Elliot wouldn't be able to resist glowing with fatherly pride.

"Yes she has, I'm really proud of her. She's doing great in school and with living on her own…although she did let it slip that she has a boyfriend."

"Yeah she mentioned that," Olivia responded.

"Wanna give me the dirt on him? Name at least?" Elliot grilled her.

"Yeah right so you can run his name through the computer and find out everything about him." Olivia laughed.

"It was worth a shot."

"I'm sorry I went off on my own yesterday, I just didn't want to lose him." Olivia said quietly.

"I know, and I'm sorry I snapped at you like one of my kids. I was just…"

"Worried." Olivia finished his sentence.

"Yeah. You need to be careful, I couldn't take it if something worse happened to you."

"It's just hard for me to not be able to go off and do things on my own." Olivia admitted.

"I know. You're just stubborn." Elliot said.

"Guilty." Olivia conceded.

* * *

They arrived at the physical therapy office and were greeted by Kelly, a perky young blonde who stood at about five foot three and couldn't have weighed more than 115 pounds.

"Hi, you must Olivia! I'm Kelly. Are you ready to get back on your feet?" Kelly greeted them perkily.

Elliot and Olivia exchanged "what the hell do they put in the water here" looks before following Kelly into the gym area.

"Let's start with some stretches to loosen you up," Kelly said as she set up a mat for Olivia to lie on. Olivia took this as her cue to get out of her chair and get down on the floor, which was not going to be an easy task.

"Here lean on me," Kelly said as she offered her shoulder.

Olivia looked down at her, "I'd crush you sweetheart."

"Here I've got it," Elliot said as he eased her down to the floor with Kelly watching.

"She _is_ a lot taller than you," Elliot said to Kelly.

"Okay lay flat on your back with your knees bent," Kelly instructed. Olivia assumed the position with minimal difficulty. "Okay now you're going to rotate your hips to left lowering your legs down to the floor," Kelly said as she guided Olivia's knees down to the floor.

She barely got halfway down before yelping out in pain, "Stop! Stop!"

Kelly brought her legs back to their starting position, "Alright, you're muscles are really tight and damaged that's why we have to do this. Now go to the other side." Again she only got about halfway down before being hit with unbearable pain. They moved onto several more difficult stretches and moves and within fifteen minutes Olivia had reached her limit.

"I can't take anymore," she said weakly. Elliot noticed tears forming in her eyes.

"Just five more twists and you can stop," Kelly offered. It was only their first session and Olivia already hated the perky blonde but she did as she was told with maximum difficulty. Elliot could hardly bear to watch her in so much pain but he knew she had to do this physical therapy if she was ever going to get back on the streets. After she had finished her fifth twist she crumpled on the floor again, exhausted.

"Okay that was GREAT, Olivia. Really good for your first session." Kelly said enthusiastically as Elliot began to peel her off the floor.

"We'll see you again in three days and remember to try to do some stretches at home so you'll heal faster." Kelly concluded as she skipped off to her next patient.

* * *

Olivia was still out of breath by the time Elliot got her back into the car. "That woman is a sadist," Olivia said angrily.

"It did look pretty rough," Elliot concurred.

"I can't believe how little I was able to do," she sad sadly.

"You'll get there, it was only your first session." Elliot said trying to be reassuring. "But you shouldn't go into work today," he finished, treading lightly.

"Don't worry, I'm in too much pain to even want to go in." Olivia replied, wincing as Elliot hit a pothole.

That surprised and slightly worried Elliot but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth if it meant that he didn't have to convince her to not go to work. They arrived at her building and to his surprise she waited for him to help her get out of the car. He almost had to pull her out of the car causing her to yelp in pain since her back had tightened up so much on the ride home. He brought her upstairs and managed to get her set up on the couch somewhat comfortably with the help of the heating pad and pain meds.

"I have to get back to work, are you gonna be alright?" Elliot asked.

"I'm probably just going to fall asleep right here, assuming the throbbing stops anytime soon." Olivia said, exhausted.

"Alright…I'll call you later to see if you need anything."

"Thanks, El."

He watched her for a few moments before leaving and noted that her spirits were definitely down. He guessed that was normal after such a strenuous physical therapy session but he was worried nonetheless.


	6. Chapter 6

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 6**

Elliot returned to work with Olivia still weighing heavily on his mind. He tried to lose himself in his paperwork and just as he almost had her out of his mind Cragen came into the squadroom,

"Elliot, Olivia just called. She said she's taking a few days off."

Elliot looked up from his desk, "Really?"

"Yeah. I guess we finally convinced her that she needs to take it easy…or she's afraid that I'm gonna read her the riot act for going off by herself."

"Which you would," Munch interjected.

"And should," Fin continued, "She could've gotten herself killed."

Elliot remained quiet.

"Elliot what's the matter? I thought you'd be glad that she decided to take a few days off." Cragen said.

"No, I am glad she's taking time off, I just don't know if she's doing it for the right reasons…" he trailed off.

"Meaning?" Cragen asked.

"She had a really hard time at physical therapy this morning. She could barely do anything and was in a lot of pain when I left." Elliot explained.

"Well that's to be expected," Cragen replied.

"She didn't expect that. I'm sure she expected to be able to do a lot more than she was able to. It's not like she's used to failing. Add to that all of us yelling at her for doing things she shouldn't be doing…"

"So you're saying what then?" Cragen asked.

"I think she's withdrawing. You know how she is when she's upset, she keeps it all inside, won't let anyone help her." Elliot replied.

"But this time she actually needs help. Physical help," Cragen continued.

"I know but I think she's taking time off to lick her wounds, wallow in it, and she doesn't want any of us around to see her do that. God forbid she appear weak." Elliot finished angrily.

"She can't just sit in her apartment mulling about her situation," Munch butted in. "It's not healthy."

"No but that's her M.O." Elliot replied. "And who are we to judge how she's reacting to this? I'd be climbing up the walls if I was in her situation."

"Yeah but you'd get taken care of by your wife and kids," Fin replied. "The job is her life."

"Alright, well we don't want her working because we want her to heal but in order for her to heal she needs to have a positive attitude which she's not going to have unless she's at work." Cragen surmised.

"Kind of a catch 22," Munch quipped.

"That's Liv." Elliot concluded.

* * *

Elliot called Olivia when he got off of work but, as he guessed, she didn't answer the phone. Several thoughts raced through his mind: she could be sleeping, not want to talk, or she could have fallen and couldn't reach the phone. He really hoped his imagination had gotten away from him on the last one. He called her again on his way to her apartment and was relieved that she answered.

"Hey I'm on my way over do you need anything?...are you sure?...Liv….okay okay, I'll call you tomorrow."

She was short with him on the phone, too short. Like she didn't want to talk to him for too long before he figured out that she had been crying, which he had figured out anyway. He knew her too well which both comforted and scared her. He could read her like no one else could. She adamantly told him not to come over. He considered going over anyway, but he knew that would just piss her off which was the last thing that he wanted to do at the moment. He figured by giving her space he was telling her that he felt that she was capable of taking care of herself, even though he had his doubts. He drove in the direction of home with Olivia weighing even more heavily on his mind than he thought possible.

* * *

Olivia hung up the phone and threw it on the couch next to her. She was still seated on her couch where Elliot had left her hours ago except now the apartment was dark and she didn't have the will to get up and turn a light on. Her pain had subsided since the torturous physical therapy session of the morning but she was stiffer than she even thought humanly possible. Several more tears trickled down her already tear stained cheeks and she didn't even bother to wipe them away. She looked around her barren apartment, she was hardly ever there so it was no wonder that it didn't feel or look very home-like. There were a few pictures scattered around, mostly of her and her colleagues at work and one stray picture of her and mother from long ago. She looked around wondering what her life had amounted to. She was forty years old with no family and very few friends. If you took work out of the equation that made up her life there was really nothing left, which is what scared her the most. This injury had essentially taken away her identity. She wracked her brain searching for a memory of the last time she remembered being happy when it didn't concern work and she came up blank. Her mind wandered further into her deepest fears and concerns. Did her past damage her so much that she was incapable of having a happy future? What would she do if she could no longer do her job? And how had she managed to end up so alone in a world filled with so many people?

She tried to shake the negative thoughts from her mind but it was no use. She grabbed a water bottle on the table next to her and downed a pain pill, hoping it would numb both her pain and feelings and allow her to sleep.

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter was boring, I was going for an introspective feel. Please Review even if you didn't like it! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 7**

**A/N: so this is getting to be much longer than I anticipated. I still have more planned so stay tuned and keep reviewing!**

She woke up with a jolt from the sound of her cell phone going off and yelped in agony as she reached for it too quickly, cursing herself for falling asleep in such an awkward position on the couch. Flipping her phone open she was surprised to see that it was already 10:30; she couldn't remember the last time she had slept late. Two new voicemails and a text message flashed on the screen in front of her, all from Elliot.

"Hey Liv it's around nine I just wanted to see if you needed anything before I went in to work."

*delete*

"Liv, it's 9:30, just call me back so I know you're alright."

*delete*

The text message read: _Text or call me back or I'm coming over NOW….El_

She pressed the speed dial and held the phone up to her ear,

"Hey sorry I didn't answer I was asleep…you're where?"

She heard him put his keys in the door and hung up the phone. He entered the apartment and took in the scene in front of him noticing that she was still in the same clothes from yesterday and in the same position he had left her in, not good signs.

"I was worried," he began.

She shifted uncomfortably on the couch; she did not want him to be there, not now. She attempted to straighten her messy hair and look as normal as possible but he wasn't buying it.

"You slept on the couch?" he asked. "That had to hurt."

"Yeah actually it did. I can barely move." She replied as she went to take another pain pill.

"When's the last time you ate something? You probably shouldn't take those on an empty stomach."

She knew he was right, but she also didn't want him to know that she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten anything.

"I brought you some bagels." He said as he handed her one.

"Thanks," she replied taking it.

He turned her TV on, the uncomfortable silence was killing him and he figured it would be easier to get her to talk if they both had something neutral to look at.

"Cragen said you took a few days off…" he said, testing the waters as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"Yeah, I've been in a lot of pain." She said as she took a bite of the bagel.

"Is that the only reason you're taking off?" He asked.

"I thought you'd be happy that I took a few days off, it's what you all wanted isn't it?"

"I think you need some time to heal but I don't want you to feel like we don't need you because that's just not true..."

"I'm not much of a cop now, I'm slowing you guys down, getting in the way," she said sadly.

"You're still you, Liv. We need **you**. Your brain, your heart, your instincts. You just need to let us do the foot work for awhile."

"And what if I never get better?" she asked.

"It's only the first week, Liv. Give it time. You'll probably do better at physical therapy tomorrow, you'll see."

"I'm not going to physical therapy tomorrow." She stated firmly.

"What?" Elliot asked incredulously.

"It hurt too much, it was too hard, I felt stupid." She admitted.

Elliot was starting to get mad, "So you're just gonna quit."

"I'm not quitting."

"So what're you doing then?"

"Taking a break."

"Uh huh, avoiding." He shot back at her.

"What're you talking about?" she asked angrily.

"I know how you get when you're upset."

"And how's that?" she said defensively, sitting up a little straighter which only caused more pain to shoot through her spine.

"Like that, defensive, you put a wall up. You did it when your mother died, after Sealview, and you know what? I'm used to it, really, but you can't do it this time."

"And why not?" she shot back.

"Because this time you can't avoid the problem until it goes away. This is a physical, tangible problem that isn't going away and the only thing you're going to gain by ignoring it is a permanent indent of your ass in that chair." He finished angrily.

She was taken aback by his statement, stunned actually.

"No retort? That's a first," he went on.

"Elliot." She pleaded.

"And if you're stuck in that chair permanently then you're right, you can't be a cop anymore. And what then?"

"Elliot please—"

"Then what're you gonna do? Work a desk the rest of your career? You'll go crazy."

"Stop." She said desperately.

"And what about the victims? What are they gonna do without you? Because you know damn well that you have more compassion and empathy than me, Munch, and Fin combined."

"El."

"And what the hell am I supposed to do without you?" he yelled, his speech coming to its culmination.

She grabbed onto his hand, willing him to stop. The physical contact broke him off of his tirade and he looked over to her. She could see the anger in his eyes, but also traces of fear.

"Stop, I get it. Just stop," she pleaded.

"I can't do this job without you." He said quietly.

She tried to be angry at him for going off on her but she was struck by the fact that maybe he was just as afraid of this situation as she was and she had to admit, it felt pretty damn good to be needed, to be missed.

"I'm scared, El." She whispered.

He moved closer to her on the couch, "It's okay to be scared, Liv. But you have to fight back and let me help you."

She cautiously leaned into his chest afraid of the pain but needing the comfort, "I guess you would be pretty lost without me…"

"You have no idea." He said as he put his arm around her shoulders. "So you'll go to physical therapy tomorrow?"

"If you'll go with me, and bring a bullet for me to bite on." She responded, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Deal."


	8. Chapter 8

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 8**

Elliot wheeled Olivia into the physical therapy office the next morning.

"You're gonna do great," he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She wasn't so sure. Now that she was aware of the pain that physical therapy could cause her nerves were working overtime.

Kelly skipped over to them from the front desk, "Hello again! Are you ready to get started?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Olivia replied as they followed Kelly into the gym.

* * *

Elliot wheeled a very sore and tired Olivia out to the car 45 minutes later.

"How ya doin?" he asked as he began to help her into the car.

"I'm exhausted."

Elliot got into the car and began to drive, "Well you did great."

"I couldn't even do ten of those stupid twists," she countered.

"Yeah but last time you couldn't even do five." He reminded her. "Baby steps."

"I guess."

Elliot's phone rang, "Stabler…what? Where?" he glanced over towards Olivia in the passenger seat. "Ok I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone, "Munch caught a break in the Donovan case, we've gotta go pick him up. Do you mind coming in with me for awhile? You can sack out in the cribs."

"I can't get to the crib." Olivia reminded him.

"Right, well I'm sure Cragen wouldn't mind if you slept on the pull out in his office." He replied as he peeled off towards the precinct.

* * *

When they arrived at the squadroom Elliot got Olivia set up in Cragen's office.

"Here's your pain medication," he said as he handed her the pill and a bottle of water. "I'll be back in awhile to take you home."

"Thanks," she said, barely able to keep her eyes open.

* * *

Elliot and Munch returned to the squadroom an hour later with their suspect.

"Take him to interrogation," Elliot told Munch, "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Elliot approached Cragen who had taken over Olivia's desk since she was in his office, "How's she doing?"

"She's been out cold since you left…how'd she do in physical therapy?"

Elliot peaked into Cragen's office to look at Olivia asleep on the pull out, "Better than last time but it was still really hard for her."

Before they could continue their conversation a young woman entered the squadroom. Elliot and Cragen took in her appearance, her clothes were disheveled, her makeup was smeared, and she looked like she wanted to jump out of her skin. She was clearly a victim.

Elliot approached her cautiously, "Can I help you?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice and looked around the room wildly, "Uh is there a woman here I can talk to?" she asked nervously.

This time Cragen tried to help, "Ma'am, whatever it is I'm sure we can help you."

She looked between the two men standing on either side of her, "Maybe I should just go."

"Just hang on a minute, alright? Take a seat over here," Elliot said as he escorted her to his desk.

Elliot and Cragen walked towards Cragen's office and peered in at Olivia sleeping soundly.

"Do you think she's up for it?" Cragen asked.

Elliot looked at his sleeping partner and then to the scared woman seated at his desk.

"I don't know," he began, "She needs to focus on getting better and you know how invested she gets in all of her cases…"

"Maybe it'll be good for her, and we can keep an eye on her, make sure she's not getting in over her head." Cragen replied.

Elliot was torn. Of course he would do anything to help a victim, and he knew Olivia would too, but that was the problem. He could totally see her sacrificing her own well being for the sake of the case and he wasn't about to let this impede her recovery. He once again looked to the woman seated at his desk who he knew would only open up to his partner and realized that he had no choice.

"Alright, I'll go get her." He conceded.

Elliot quietly opened the door to the office and kneeled down next to Olivia who was still fast asleep. He moved her hair out of her face and gently squeezed her shoulder to wake her, "Olivia," he whispered, "Liv."

She groggily opened her eyes and focused on Elliot kneeling in front of her, "Hey."

"Hey, how're you feeling?"

"Kind of sore."

"Uh Liv, do you think you'd be up to talking to a victim? She just came in and I tried to talk to her but she asked for a woman…"

"Um sure," she replied as she sat up and was hit was a spasm of pain.

Elliot steadied her and looked her in the eyes, "You don't have to do this."

"You know I do," she replied as she let him help her into the wheelchair.

They returned to the squadroom and Olivia wheeled herself over to the young woman, "Hi, I'm Olivia. What's your name?"

"Halle," she said quietly.

"Hi Halle, why don't you come with me alright?" Olivia replied as she wheeled off towards the interview room.

* * *

"So why don't you tell me what happened?" Olivia began, seated across from Halle in the interview room.

Halle shifted nervously in her seat, "I was at a party last night in one of the guys dorms…I think someone slipped something into my drink. I woke up this morning in some guys bed, my pants were off."

"What school do you go to?"

"NYU."

"How old are you?"

"21."

"Do you know who's bed you woke up in?"

"No, and I don't remember anything about most of the night." Halle replied sadly.

"It's going to be alright Halle," Olivia said reassuringly. "We need to get you checked out by a doctor and do a rape exam."

Halle shuddered at the thought, "Will you come with me?"

"Of course I will. I'll be right back."

Olivia wheeled herself out of the interview room and went back into the squadroom.

"Can someone drive us to the hospital?" Olivia asked to the room at large.

"What've you got?" Elliot asked.

"She thinks someone slipped something into her drink at a party last night. I wanna get a rape kit."

"I can take you," Fin offered.

"No I'll do it," Elliot countered.

"Elliot, we have to go pick up that witness for the Donovan case and go to court in an hour," Munch reminded him.

"Damnit, that's right."

"Fin can take us, it's fine Elliot. Really." Olivia told him.

"Okay, but after the hospital Fin will take you home so you can rest, right Fin?" Elliot said.

"No problem." Fin replied.

**A/N: So how is Olivia going to handle a case along with her recovery? Will she go overboard or will it help her heal? **

**Remember to review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 9**

Olivia could barely keep her eyes open while they were waiting for the doctor in the hospital waiting room due to the strength of her painkillers and desperate need for a nap. Just as she was about to doze off Fin's phone rang snapping her back to the present.

"This is Fin…she wasn't home?...alright alright I'll check her office you guys check out the boyfriend." He hung up the phone and looked towards Olivia.

"Munch and Elliot can't find the witness and she's due in court in an hour, I've gotta go help them look for her."

"Alright, we'll probably be here awhile anyway." Olivia responded.

"I'll come back after we find her to take you home," Fin finished as he got up to leave.

"Okay cya later." Olivia waved to him as he ran off. She was slightly jealous that all of her colleagues were out chasing a witness and she could do nothing to help them, but on the bright side she was able to comfort a victim and was working on her own case so she had little room to complain this time.

A young female doctor approached Olivia and Halle, "Detective Benson?"

"Yes, and this is Halle." Olivia replied, gesturing to the fearful girl seated beside her.

"Hello Halle, I'm Dr. Young. I'll be examining you if you'd just follow me."

Olivia sat in on the exam with Halle, holding her hand the entire time. Halle clearly wanted to focus on Olivia during the exam rather than what was happening to her so Olivia mustered her strength and managed to stand at Halle's bedside.

"Should you be doing that?" Dr. Young asked Olivia as she winced in pain from standing up.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Olivia responded as she held onto Halle's hand and willed the pain shooting through her spine to go away.

* * *

After the exam Halle and Olivia left the patient room and made their way to the exit.

"If you don't mind me asking," Halle began, "What happened to you?"

Olivia looked down at the wheelchair before looking back up at Halle walking next to her, "There was an incident during an arrest, I got pushed down the stairs."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," Halle said empathetically.

"Thanks," Olivia responded, not used to sympathy.

Olivia looked around for Fin but he was nowhere to be found. "Great. He's not back yet."

"I can just take the subway back to my dorm," Halle told Olivia.

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked, not sure if she should let a rape victim take the subway home. But there was really nothing she could do about it and Halle seemed desperate to get back to her dorm.

"Yeah it's no problem, I'm only a few stops away."

"Okay, here's my card." Olivia said as she handed it to her. "My cell number is on the back, call me anytime even if you just need to talk okay?"

"Okay. Thank you Olivia." Halle said earnestly as she exited the hospital.

Olivia looked at her watch, it was almost six and she desperately wanted to get home to lie down but she still had the rape kit that had to be taken to the lab so she made her way out of the hospital and hailed a cab.

* * *

Melinda Warner was working overtime as usual when she heard a knock at the door to the lab.

"No one ever knocks," she said to herself as she made her way over to the door. She opened it and had to avert her gaze downward to find Olivia sitting in front of her looking rather worse for wear.

"Olivia! What are you doing here?" the puzzled M.E asked the detective as she helped her maneuver her way into the lab.

Olivia needed a moment to catch her breath before answering, "This place isn't exactly wheelchair accessible you know."

"What are you doing here?" she asked again, firmly.

"I've got a rape kit for you." Olivia replied as she handed it over.

"Where's Elliot?" Melinda asked as she got Olivia a bottle of water.

"Out looking for a witness."

"How'd you get here?" Melinda asked in her motherly tone.

"Took a cab from the hospital."  
"You know you could've had Elliot bring this to me tomorrow."

"Evidence chain of custody," Olivia retorted.

"Does your squad even know you're here?"

"Not exactly." Olivia winced as she tried to adjust herself in her seat.

Melinda took a moment to look Olivia up and down, "You're stooping." She stated bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Olivia asked.

"You're stooping over, how long have you been working today?"

"I don't know a few hours."

Melinda approached Olivia and placed one hand on her back and the other on her shoulder. "I'm just going to apply some pressure here."

"Ouch!" Olivia yelped.

"You've been wheeling yourself around too much today, you're gonna get a hunchback if you don't take care of yourself." She scolded in her doctorly manner.

"I AM taking care of myself," Olivia protested.

"Cervical Radiculopathy right?" Melinda asked as she grasped Olivia's shoulders from behind her and straightened them out, much to Olivia's discomfort.

"Yeah." Olivia said painfully.

"Have you been going to physical therapy?"

"It's a bitch," Olivia replied bluntly.

"It's necessary. And it's best to be rigorous about it early on before you develop other symptoms." Melinda lectured.

"What other symptoms?" Olivia asked nervously.

"If untreated or exacerbated cervical Radiculopathy can lead to pain that spreads into the arms, neck, chest, shoulders, muscle weakness and lack of coordination, especially in the hands." Melinda rattled off.

Olivia took a deep breath, "Are you trying to scare me? Because I'm already sick enough over this."

"I'm sorry," Melinda replied earnestly standing in front of Olivia. "But I know how you are and you need to take care of yourself."

"I'm trying," Olivia responded.

"Have you been taking your pain meds?"

"Yeah, and they make me really tired."

"Which is another reason why you shouldn't be off by yourself."

"I know, I know," Olivia responded, defeated.

"C'mon, I'll take you back to the sqaudroom, I'm sure they're worried sick by now."

* * *

Fin was sweating bullets the entire elevator ride up to the squadroom. He had lost Olivia. Elliot was going to have his head. He sheepishly entered the squadroom and was met by the eyes of Elliot, Munch, and Cragen.

"Did you get Liv home okay?" Elliot asked from his desk.

"You haven't heard from her?" Fin asked.

"No. Should I have heard from her? You took her home right?" Elliot asked, his concern rising.

"She wasn't at the hospital when I got back," Fin said spilling his confession and hoping for leniency. He wasn't going to get it.

"What do you mean she wasn't there?" Elliot bellowed.

"She was gone."

"So you lost her?" Elliot said accusingly.

"You guys needed me to help you find your witness," Fin offered as an excuse.

"Hang on guys," Cragen said trying to quell the argument before it got out of hand, "Did anyone try calling her?"

"About a hundred times," Fin responded. "It went right to voicemail."

"I knew she shouldn't have taken a case so soon," Elliot went on.

"Maybe she's on her way back here right now," Munch offered.

"Or maybe she took a cab home," Cragen added.

Elliot shook his head in disbelief, "I knew this would happen. She's too headstrong."

"You can't keep her in a bubble Elliot." Fin said.

This struck a nerve, "She's my partner! I have a right to be concerned. To be protective."

"There's an understatement," Fin mumbled under his breath.

"You have something to say?" Elliot yelled loudly at Fin.

"She's a big girl Elliot. She can handle herself." Fin came back at him.

"NOT IN A WHEELCHAIR SHE CAN'T!" Elliot screamed. "She doesn't know her own limitations, she'll put the case before herself, she'll try to do things she normally could and if that's not enough evidence that she can't handle herself in this situation then how about this: SHE'S MISSING!"

Fin, Munch, Cragen and Elliot all began yelling back and forth incoherently. Olivia and Melinda heard the yelling even before they got off the elevator. Melinda wheeled Olivia in the squadroom unnoticed by the guys who were too busy brawling with each other to turn around.

"Excuse me guys," she said loudly. "Did you lose something?"


	10. Chapter 10

Reinventing the Wheel

Chapter 10

**A/N: I never write fics this long, it's kind of killing me. Reviews greatly appreciated. **

Cragen, Munch, and Fin all stopped mid-rant and angrily came towards Olivia like an angry mob.

"Where the hell did you go?" Fin yelled.

"Why didn't you wait for Fin?" Cragen followed.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Elliot finished.

Olivia stared up into the three sets of angry eyes glaring down at her and burst into a fit of laughter catching the guys by surprise.

"What the hell is so funny?" Elliot asked, still angry.

"You guys," she said in between laughs, "You're so mad."

They all exchanged puzzled looks.

"We had no idea where you were!" Elliot responded.

Olivia's laughter died down and she tried to catch her breath, "I'm sorry I'm laughing. I know you were worried."

"Damn right we were worried," Fin replied. "Stabler was ready to kill me."

"I was," Elliot admitted.

"Thanks for brining her back Melinda," Cragen said.

"No problem, you might want to consider a lojack device." She responded.

"I'm attaching one to her chair tomorrow," Elliot replied, only half joking.

* * *

Olivia dozed off several times on the ride to her apartment. When they arrived she immediately went into her bedroom to change into her pajamas and walked into the living room to join Elliot.

"Will you please stop walking around in front of me? You're making me nervous," he pleaded with her as he rushed to her side to escort her to the couch.

"I've been stuck in that damn chair all day I just wanted to stretch my legs." She whined as he sat her down on the couch.

"I don't think you should be working this case," he stated bluntly as he sat down next to her.

"Elliot I'm too tired to argue with you about this." She responded with a yawn.

"That's my point, it's too much for you."

"No it's not," she protested as she laid down and put her head in his lap. "It feels good to be tired from work rather than from the pain meds."

"Well at least let me do all the running around. You can deal with the victim and the paperwork but any legwork is mine. I just don't want you over exerting yourself. The more you rest the faster you'll get better and then we can go back to normal…"

He looked down at her for her response and found that she was fast asleep and hadn't heard a single word he had said. He let out a deep sigh and turned the TV on, she was resting so comfortably he didn't want to wake her by moving.

* * *

Several hours later Elliot was fast asleep along with Olivia on the couch. Olivia's phone rang cutting through the silence of the apartment waking them both up. She moved to get up to get it but Elliot restrained her.

"I'll get it, stay here." He ordered her.

He returned from her bedroom with the phone and handed it to her, "Who the hell is calling you so late?"

She checked the caller ID, "It's my rape victim Halle."

He gave her a look, she ignored it.

"Benson," she answered the phone, trying to sound awake. "Hi Halle, what's wrong?...Of course you did the right thing by reporting it…yes it is rape, you weren't able to consent sweetie it doesn't matter if you don't remember…we'll get the lab results tomorrow morning, I'll call you…of course it was okay to call me, anytime….goodnight."

She hung up the phone and let it drop to the floor.

"You need to put yourself first for a change, not the victims." Elliot lectured her.

"I can put us both first," she replied groggily.

"How?" He questioned her.

"Well when she needs me I'll talk to her and help her and then when I need me I'll take care of me." She rambled.

"You're not making any sense," he replied.

"Well its two o'clock in the god damn morning and I'm on vicodin El you try making any sense."

"Just go back to sleep Liv."

"I'm on it." She replied as she flopped her head back down and immediately fell asleep.

**A/N: Sorry it's short, if anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them. Obviously I want to end with Olivia being able to walk again but is there anything you'd want to see before we get to that (aside from solving the case)? **


	11. Chapter 11

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 11**

"You're not coming with me," Elliot said sternly, looking down at his partner at her desk.

"Yes I am, it's my case." She said in an equally stern tone of voice.

"Our case," he reminded her.

"I've been stuck at this desk forever, El. I've been letting you do all the legwork, obeying the doctor's orders, going to physical therapy…throw me a bone." She pleaded, giving him a look she knew he couldn't say no to.

He threw his hands up in the air, "Fine. You win."

She sat up a little straighter in her chair, thoroughly pleased with herself. "And then we can grab lunch on the way back."

"Only if you behave yourself," he jokingly threatened.

* * *

They arrived at the sprawling campus of NYU and made the long trek in to the Alpha Zeta fraternity house. Olivia enjoyed the scenic ride through the campus while Elliot grunted at the unexpected workout of pushing Olivia's chair up and down the hilly campus. They arrived at the frat house and Olivia was disheartened to see that there was a long staircase leading up to the entrance.

"I knew you shouldn't have come with," Elliot told her.

"I can make it up the stairs." Olivia offered.

"Yeah right. Stay here." He ordered.

Olivia watched as Elliot bounded up the stairs and entered the house. Once inside Elliot began knocking on doors questioning everyone he encountered about the wild party there about a week ago.

"What's your name?" he asked authoritatively to a scrawny looking guy.

"Billy."

"Okay Billy, what can you tell me about the party you guys had here last week?"

Billy looked around guiltily, "Uh, what party?"

"Don't play games with me Billy you won't win."

"Alright alright we had a party. So what?"

"Did you hear that a girl got raped at that party?"

"No…." Billy answered, unconvincingly.

"What do you know?" Elliot asked forcefully.

"I just heard some stuff…" Billy answered vaguely.

"Elaborate."

Billy began to explain but Elliot's mind wandered to how Olivia was doing at the bottom of the stairs.

Olivia wheeled herself back and forth in front of the entrance of the frat house, her own form of pacing.

An athletic looking student came bounding up the hill towards the frat house and tried to evade Olivia parked at the entrance.

"Are you always so polite?" Olivia asked, mockingly.

"Oh sorry, didn't you see there," he lied.

"What's your name?"

"Who's asking?" he asked snottily.

She pulled out her badge, "Detective Benson, Special Victim's Unit."

He shifted his weight, clearly nervous. "I'm Ryan."

"Ryan what?"

"Ryan Tripp."

"Were you at the party last week Ryan?" she asked as she rolled closer to him.

"Yeah we all were."

"Did you hear that a girl was raped at the party?"

"Yeah right." He smirked.

"You find that funny?" Olivia asked steadily getting pissed off.

"No but lots of girls hook up with guys when they're drunk, feel guilty about it the next morning, and cry rape. No one had to force themselves on anyone." He explained.

"Well she couldn't consent if she was drunk…or drugged." She threw at him.

"You know this is all very interesting but I have a chem midterm I need to study for," he said trying to get up the stairs past her.

"Well we're not done yet." She said with authority. "My partner and I need to ask you a few more questions….Elliot!" she yelled to him upstairs, hoping he would hear her. Ryan freaked when he realized that there was a partner in this equation, not just a lone female cop in a wheelchair. He frantically looked around realizing that Elliot was in the house. Olivia knew he was about to do something stupid, probably run, in which case she wouldn't be able to catch him.

"Elliot!" she yelled again, louder this time.

Ryan looked down at Olivia in the chair and a cold smirk crossed his face. He got behind her and gave her chair a forceful shove in the direction of the hill before sprinting away in the opposite direction. The chair was gaining speed as gravity pulled it down the hill. Olivia tried to stop the wheels but they were going too fast for her to break them. She tried to steer but only ended up veering wildly out of control before the chair ran into the grass, toppled over, and she was thrown from it.

Elliot was still upstairs when he heard a crash outside that he knew in his heart was Olivia. He flew down the stairs and out of the house screaming for her. "Olivia! Where are you?"

Olivia was stunned to find herself on the grass at the bottom of the hill. She turned her head to see that the wheelchair was lying at least 10 feet away from her. A spasm of pain shot through her back and she took a deep breath. Mustering her strength she managed to roll herself over and shakily stand up.

"Elliot!" She yelled to him. "I'm down here, I'm fine. Get the kid!"

Elliot wasn't about to leave her at the bottom of the hill and go chasing after a kid until he saw for himself that she was alright. He wildly looked around and noticed a kid running in the opposite direction. He knew Olivia would hate him for it, but he had to check on her first. He sprinted down the hill to find her and was stunned to see her standing next to her wheelchair that had clearly toppled over.

"What the hell are you doing? What happened?" he asked with great concern as he reached her and hooked his arm around her waist to steady her.

"Detectives!" a voice called from the top of the hill. They both looked up to see who it was. A campus security officer was approaching them dragging Ryan next to him.

"Is this yours?" he asked.

"Arrest him!" Olivia shouted as she went to walk up the hill.

Elliot restrained her, "Cuff him and call an ambulance."

"El I'm fine, really."

"You flew down a hill in your wheelchair with a back injury," he tried reasoning with her.

"And I was able to stand up afterwards," she countered. "Please. I just want to collar this scum." She pleaded.

He looked into his partner's eyes and was relieved to see her passion and intensity was back.

"You're sure you're alright?" he asked seriously.

"I promise, I'm fine." She said, almost beaming.

He picked up the chair and carefully helped her lower herself into it before pushing her back up the hill.

"You just made a BIG mistake," he spat at Ryan. "HUGE."


	12. Chapter 12

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 12**

Elliot held the door open for Olivia so she could wheel herself into the interrogation room. Ryan was standing against the window drinking a soda and turned when they came in.

"Why don't you have a seat?" Olivia said, not really asking.

"I'd rather stand," Ryan answered.

"Oh yeah? Me too." She countered as she moved towards him and 'accidentally' rolled over his toes.

"Ouch!" Ryan screamed out in pain as he was forced to sit down.

"Oops, guess I still don't have the hang of this thing." She said with a smirk.

"Well you were thrown for a loop earlier," Elliot offered.

"I was wasn't I?" Olivia went on. "You must have something to hide if you're willing to go to jail for sending a police officer down a hill in a wheelchair."

"Jail? For that?" Ryan asked nervously.

"Assaulting a police officer," Elliot informed him. "Judges don't like that, especially when they're disabled."

"Look I'm sorry. I just freaked." He tried to reason with them.

"Save it." Olivia spat at him. "Let's talk about the party that you threw last week."

"What about it?" Ryan asked evasively.

"Well, I talked to your friend Billy," Elliot began. "And he told me that you were bragging about getting some girl to do anything you wanted…"

"Billy's a liar!"

"Okay well if that's the case you won't mind giving us a DNA sample then?" Olivia offered.

"For what?" Ryan asked nervously.

"To match against the rape kit." Olivia told him.

Ryan's face dropped, "What rape kit?"

"The one that we got from your victim," Olivia informed him.

"I'm not giving you my DNA so you can frame me," Ryan said trying to be tough.

"Okay, we can't force you," Olivia said sweetly, too sweetly. "You done with this?" she asked, referring to the soda can.

"Yeah, can I leave now?" he asked itching to get away from them.

"Why don't you stick around?" Elliot said.

"For what?"

"To see if the DNA off of your soda can matches the rape kit," Elliot said as he picked it up and bagged it.

Ryan put his head in hands, defeated. Olivia and Elliot exited the room but not before Elliot gave Ryan a decent smack against the back of his head.

* * *

Later that day Halle entered the squadroom and approached Olivia seated at her desk.

"You really caught him?" she asked, thinking it was too good to be true.

"We really did," Olivia confirmed. "His DNA matched the rape kit."

Halle heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank you so much Olivia."

"You're very welcome. You'll still have to testify at the trial unless Ryan takes a plea bargain, but you don't have to worry about him doing this to you or any other girl ever again."


	13. Chapter 13

**Reinventing the Wheel**

**Chapter 13**

_***Ten Days Later***_

Elliot looked up from his magazine and was overjoyed to see Olivia walk out of an exam room and come towards him. A huge smile flashed across her face as she met his eyes.

"I'm cleared to work," she informed him, beaming from ear to ear.

A tear came to Elliot's eye, "That's great."

"I couldn't have gotten through this month without you, thank you." She said earnestly as she enveloped him into a firm embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to his chest, so relieved to have her back.

* * *

They walked into the squadroom half an hour later and she was greeted with applause from Munch, Fin and Cragen.

"Great to have you back," Cragen said, proud of her for getting back on her feet.

"Can I have my gun back now?" she asked.

He laughed, of course that would be her first request, "Of course Detective."

* * *

Her phone rang and she grabbed it, placing it to her ear, "Benson….okay what's the address?...got it, we're on our way."

**THE END!**

Thank you to everyone who stuck with this story, I have greatly appreciated all of your reviews, you kept me going! Now you should all check out _Breaking the Habit_, my collaboration with Fic Fairy about how Olivia deals (or rather doesn't deal) with her mother's death, how a serial killer case affects her, and what role Elliot will play in her fall from grace and eventual rising.


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